In 1979 after some fairly major line up changes, the Hawks were finding their feet again, starting a period of more
guitar based heavier music. This was to lead to some of their best work, LPs like Levitation & The Xenon codex. I
saw them in 1979 and it was a bit different but I enjoyed it then and still do. Live 79 isn`t really representative of
other Hawkwind music, but it is a nice snapshot of the band at that time, with some really different interpretations of
old standards.

This is Hawkwind in a late 70s-early 80s hard rock mode. I never can actually think of "Shot Down In The
Night" as really a Hawkwind song, but the boys do a damn fine job of it. After that it begins to sound pretty much
like Hawkwind. There is a very late 70s-early 80s sound to the recording that really put me off at first, but once I got
past that I found a lot here to like. Granted, it's not "Space Ritual" or "Doremi," but the Hawkwind
that did those albums will never be again.

The versions of "Brainstorm" and "Master of the Universe" here are lusciously guitar-heavy and build
up to a very satisfying roar; they deserve to be heard in their own right. The sound quality is also very decent, unlike
a lot of other live Hawkwind albums. My major complaint with this is the aborted version of "Silver Machine,"
which is ended with an explosion just as it takes off; I wish they had just left it off completely. Why it was included
is a mystery to me.

Overall you could do a lot worse. I wouldn't think this would be a CD for the beginning Hawkwind listener, but for a fan
this provides a good look at where they were in 1979. And people who enjoy 70s hard rock in general will find a lot here
to like. Not indispensable, but solid nonetheless.